Nanobots: Early Bots 3.0
Personal construction nanobots that work without roboport networks! Build, repair, and defend - all from your equipment grid.
🎯 Key Features
⚙️ Construction & Repair
- Personal Construction Bots - Place ghosts, build structures
- Auto-Repair System - Keeps your factory healthy
- Tile Building - Automated floor placement
- Quality Support - Full Factorio 2.0 quality integration
- Megabase Optimized - Up to 90% faster entity scanning
🚗 Vehicle Automation
- Smart Fuel Delivery - Automatically refuel vehicles
- Ammo Management - Keep tanks armed and ready
- Module Installation - Auto-equip vehicle modules
- Works Anywhere - No roboport network required
🎖️ Auto-Defense System
- Automatic Turret Ammo Delivery - Never run out of ammunition
- Quality-Aware - Prioritize legendary/epic ammo or use cheap ammo first
- Smart Detection - Automatically finds compatible ammunition
- Customizable Thresholds - Set when to refill (absolute or percentage)
- Separate Artillery Settings - Different rules for expensive shells
- Visual Feedback - Colored flying text shows what was delivered
- Ammo-Specific Sounds - Different sounds for small/large/artillery ammo
- Wrong Ammo Warning - Alert when termites or incompatible ammo is loaded
📊 Statistics & Automation
- Statistics GUI Panel (Alt+H) - Real-time session stats, lifetime totals, ammo breakdown
- Combat Priority Mode - Auto-switch to best ammo when enemies nearby
- Auto-Enable on Combat - System activates when enemies detected, disables when clear
- Adaptive Scan Interval - Faster scanning in combat, slower in peacetime
- Low/Empty Nano Charge Warnings - Audio + visual alerts with configurable interval
- Square Area Visualization - Accurate representation of nanobot working zone
🎮 How to Use
Basic Setup
- Craft Nano Emitter - Research and craft the nano-emitter gun
- Craft Nano Ammo - Construction bots, deconstruction bots, etc.
- Equip - Place emitter in gun slot, ammo in ammo slot
- Deploy! - Build anywhere without roboports
Hotkeys
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Alt+N | Toggle nanobot area visualization (green square) |
| Alt+G | Toggle auto-defense ammunition delivery |
| Alt+H | Toggle statistics GUI panel |
⚙️ Auto-Defense Configuration
Navigate to: Settings → Map → Mod Settings → Per Player
Gun Turrets
- Refill Threshold: When to start refilling (1-10 rounds or 25%/50%/75%/100%)
- Delivery Amount: How much to deliver per refill
Artillery
- Separate settings for expensive shells
- Recommended: Threshold = 1, Delivery = 5
Ammo Priorities
- Type Priority: Best damage first (uranium → piercing → basic) or worst first
- Quality Priority: Best quality first (legendary → epic → rare) or worst first
Combat Priority Mode
When enabled:
- In Combat (enemies nearby): Always uses BEST ammo (max damage + max quality)
- In Peace (no enemies): Uses YOUR configured priority settings
Auto-Enable on Combat
When enabled:
- Enemies detected: Automatically ENABLES the delivery system
- Area clear: Automatically DISABLES the delivery system
- Different from Combat Priority Mode (which only changes WHICH ammo to use)
Performance Settings (Global)
- Scan Interval: How often to check turrets (default: 60 ticks = 1 second)
- Max Per Scan: Limit turrets processed per scan (default: 5)
📊 Statistics GUI
Press Alt+H to open the statistics panel:
Current/Last Session:
- Duration (minutes:seconds)
- Turrets rearmed
- Total ammo delivered
- Nano charges used
- Top 8 ammo types breakdown (with quality)
All Time Totals:
- Cumulative statistics across all sessions
- Total sessions count
- Complete ammo breakdown
🎨 Visual & Audio Feedback
Flying Text
- Green text: "+5 Uranium rounds"
- Quality colors: (legendary) gold, (epic) purple, (rare) blue
- Orange text: "Auto-Defense paused: Termites loaded (need Constructors)"
- Red text: "No nano charges! Insert ammo into nano-emitter"
- Mode switches: Combat/Peace notifications
- Auto-enable: System on/off notifications
Sounds
- Small ammo: Light click (magazines, piercing rounds)
- Large ammo: Heavy clunk (rockets, cannon shells)
- Artillery: Deep thud (artillery shells)
- Low nano warning: Alert sound when charges running low
❓ FAQ
Auto-Defense Questions
Q: Turrets not refilling automatically?
Check in order:
1. Press Alt+G - system must be ENABLED (or enable "Auto-Enable on Combat")
2. Press Alt+N - turrets must be within the green square
3. You must have compatible ammunition in your inventory
4. Laser turrets don't use ammo!
5. Settings → Per Player → verify turret type is enabled
Q: "Auto-Defense paused: Termites loaded" warning?
Auto-defense only works with Nano Constructors. If termites or other ammo is loaded in the nano-emitter, the system pauses. Switch to constructors to resume.
Q: Empty ammo warning keeps appearing?
If nano-emitter is equipped but ammo slot is empty, the system warns you. Either load ammo or adjust/disable the warning interval in Settings → Per Player → Warning Interval.
Q: System delivers wrong quality ammo?
Settings → Per Player → Ammo Quality Priority:
- "Best Quality First" = uses legendary/epic first
- "Worst Quality First" = uses normal quality first (saves good ammo)
Q: Why uranium rounds when I have basic magazines?
Settings → Per Player → Ammo Type Priority:
- "Best Damage First" = strongest ammo first (uranium → piercing → basic)
- "Worst Damage First" = weakest ammo first (saves expensive ammo)
Q: What's the difference between Combat Priority Mode and Auto-Enable?
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Combat Priority Mode | Changes WHICH ammo to use (best in combat, your settings in peace) |
| Auto-Enable on Combat | Turns the SYSTEM on/off based on enemy presence |
You can use both together, one, or neither!
Q: Too many turrets, game lags?
Settings → Global:
- Increase "Scan Interval" from 60 to 120+ ticks
- Decrease "Max Per Scan" from 5 to 3 or less
- Enable "Adaptive Scan" to auto-adjust based on combat
Q: Artillery turrets empty but not refilling?
Artillery has separate settings!
- Settings → Per Player → Artillery: Refill Threshold
- Default is 1 (refills when completely empty)
Q: Why is the visualization a square, not a circle?
The nanobot system searches a square area (for performance). The visualization accurately shows this square zone. Entities in all corners are processed!
Q: Low nano charge warning is annoying?
Settings → Per Player:
- Set threshold to 0 to disable warnings completely
- Adjust warning interval (10 sec to 5 min)
Network & Roboport Questions
Q: Nanobots don't work when I have regular robots in inventory?
This is controlled by "Disable nanobots in logistic networks" setting (Settings → Global):
| Setting | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Enabled (default) | Nanobots DON'T work when regular robots are available |
| Disabled | Nanobots ALWAYS work, regardless of regular robots |
Important: If the setting is enabled, you can still use nanobots by:
1. Toggling off your personal roboport (Alt+F or shortcut bar button) - nanobots will work!
2. Removing robots from inventory
3. Disabling the setting
Q: I toggled off my personal roboport but nanobots still don't work?
Make sure you're using the in-game toggle (Alt+F or the button in shortcut bar), not removing the roboport from armor. The system checks whether your personal roboport is toggled on/off.
Q: What about stationary roboports?
If you're standing in range of a stationary roboport with construction robots, nanobots won't work (with "Disable in networks" enabled). This is intentional - let the stationary robots do the work!
Remote View / Space Exploration
Q: Nanobots stop when I use satellite/remote view?
Fixed in v5.8.2! Nanobots now use your character's physical surface and position. They continue working around your character while you view other locations remotely.
Q: Visualization square disappears during remote view?
Fixed in v5.8.2! The square now renders on your character's physical surface and stays in place during remote viewing.
Roboport Interface Questions
Q: What is "Reserve robots %" setting?
This setting is for the Roboport Interface feature (a combinator that sends commands to your roboport network via signals). It controls how many regular construction robots (NOT nanobots!) to keep free in your logistic network.
- 0% = Interface can use ALL robots for its tasks
- 50% = Keep half free for normal construction/repair
- 100% = Don't use any robots (interface disabled)
Important: This has NOTHING to do with nano-charges or the nanobot emitter!
Q: What is the Roboport Interface?
A special combinator (Logistic Network Interface) that lets you automate tasks using signals:
- Chop trees automatically
- Pick up items from ground
- Place tiles
- Deconstruct empty mining drills
- Catch fish
Connect it to your roboport network and send signals to trigger actions.
General Questions
Q: How is this different from regular roboports?
| Feature | Nanobots | Roboports |
|---|---|---|
| Works anywhere | ✅ | ❌ (needs network) |
| Follows player | ✅ | ❌ (stationary) |
| Auto-defense | ✅ | ❌ |
| Range | Smaller | Larger |
| Requires ammo | ✅ | ❌ |
Q: Does quality affect nanobot range?
YES! Higher quality ammo = larger range:
- Normal: Base range (7-15 tiles depending on ammo type)
- Each quality tier: +10% range
Q: Does this work on Aquilo / Space platforms / Space Exploration?
Yes! All planets, platforms, and SE surfaces supported. v5.8.2 specifically fixes remote view compatibility.
Q: Is this multiplayer compatible?
Yes! Each player has independent nanobot system with individual settings.
Q: Performance impact?
Minimal! Megabase-optimized (v5.8.0):
- Unified on_tick handler (3→1)
- Removed log I/O from hot loops
- Type-filtered entity search (up to 90% faster)
- Settings caching with 5-second TTL
- Adaptive scanning (slower when peaceful)
- Smart player distribution in multiplayer
📝 Changelog
v5.8.2
- Fixed remote view compatibility: all systems now use character's physical surface/position — nanobots keep working, warnings display at character, visualization stays in place during satellite/remote view
v5.8.1
- Fixed Auto-Defense consuming termite ammo
- Added wrong ammo warning (configurable interval)
- Added empty ammo slot warning
- Active Emitter Mode support for Nano Monitor
- Factorio 2.0 API audit: fixed get_upgrade_target/quality, revive(), get_contents(), pcall patterns
v5.8.0
- 15 performance optimizations (unified on_tick, removed hot loop I/O, caching, O(1) lookups)
- Fixed ghost building (SafeEntity.revive Factorio 2.0 format)
- Fixed config require error in auto_defense
v5.7.1
- Fixed nanobots not working when personal roboport toggled OFF
v5.7.0
- Statistics GUI (Alt+H)
- Combat Priority Mode
- Auto-Enable on Combat
- Adaptive Scan Interval
- Low Nano Charge Warnings
- Square Area Visualization
🤝 Credits
- Original Author: Nexela
- Factorio 2.0 Port: AI-assisted development
- Community: Testing and feedback
📜 License
MIT License - Free to use and modify
Enjoy automated construction, repair, and defense with quality support! 🤖✨
Compatible with Factorio 2.0+ and Space Age DLC